Margaret E. Knight

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Margaret Ethridge Knight (February 14, 1838 – October 12, 1914) was an American inventor. She was born in York, Maine to James Knight and Hannah Teal. A cotton mill worker from the age of nine through her 56. In 1868, while living in Springfield, Massachusetts, Knight invented a machine that folded and glued paper to form the brown paper bags familiar to shoppers today.

Knight built a wooden model of the device, but needed a working iron model to apply for a patent. Charles Annan, who was in the machine shop where Knight's iron model was being built, stole her design and patented the device. Knight filed a successful patent interference lawsuit and was awarded the patent in 1873. With a Massachusetts business man, Knight established the Eastern Paper Bag Co. and received royalties.

Other inventions included a numbering machine, window frame and sash- patented in 1894 and several devices relating to rotary engines, patented between 1902 and 1915 according to Encyclopedia Britannica, 2005. Knight's original box-making machine is in the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C. Margaret never married and died on October 12, 1914 at the age of 76. A plaque is on the Curry Cottage at 287 Hollis St in Framingham recognizing her as the "first woman awarded a U.S. patent" and holder of 87 U.S. patents. However, Knight was not actually the first: the first female patent-holder was Mary Kies, who patented a weaving process in 1809.

[edit] Other Media

McCully, Emily Arnold. Marvelous Mattie: How Margaret E. Knight Became an Inventor. 2006. 32pp. (children's book which was recognized as one of the "best feminist books for young readers, 2007," awarded by the Amelia Bloomer Project of the Feminist Task Force of the American Library Association.

[edit] References

• "Knight, Margaret E." Encyclopaedia Britannica 2005 Encyclopedia Britannica Premium Svs - article 9125831
• U.S. Patent 116,842  Improvement in Paper-Bag Machines, July 11, 1871.